


Where Do I Begin?

by auwana



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Power Rangers
Genre: Bits o' angst, Cameos from other fandoms, F/F, High School AU, Some Crack
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-20
Updated: 2019-06-20
Packaged: 2020-05-15 12:37:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19295905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/auwana/pseuds/auwana
Summary: Maria is desperate to escape the hellhole that is her home. Natasha can't fathom any life but the Red Room.Fate, a dying alien, and the source of all planetary life will give them both everything and nothing they wanted.





	Where Do I Begin?

**Author's Note:**

> CA:WS establishes Nat as being born in 1984. Iron Man 2 takes place ~2010 (from what I understand, the movies take place in the year they're released(besides the obvious past ones)). Natasha's 26 by that movie, and would've needed to build some kind of trust with Shield and Fury to be trusted with a solo op. That's at least three or four years minimum in my head, so she's 22ish when she's brought into Shield by Hawkeye. MCU isn't clear if she was solo before that, or if she went from Red Room straight into Shield. This fic is going to give her some solo time before Shield.

Maria slipped into the living room and set the television timer to go off in thirty minutes. She cleared the cans out of the direct pathway. The snoring told her the man in the chair was still alive.

Pity, that.

Maria surveyed the room, nodded to herself, and headed into the kitchen. She made a lunch meat sandwich and set it in a baggie in the fridge along with a glass of water. Once the dry dishes were put away, she headed to her bedroom. The door was shut silently behind her before she grabbed her backpack. She climbed out of the window and landed in the dirt behind the trailer.

The deep shadows and lack of lighting was a comfort as she weaved towards the back of the park. When she was a kid, she always tried to be home before it got too dark to see between trailers. Now it was a blessing. She wondered, for a moment, if she would still be afraid of them, just a little, if her mom weren't dead.

Maria shook off the thoughts when she caught sight of Tobias, waiting under the tree that marked the end of the trailer park. They traded fist bumps before continuing through the overgrown lot to the abandoned construction site. Maria couldn't remember exactly why it was no longer active, but that didn't matter.

"Okay, so, Miss Kwan was speaking Greek," Tobias said as they settled in their perch. It was one of the more complete buildings, still steady after all these years, that let them see the highway in the valley below.

Maria nodded and smoothed out the sheet of paper with her math homework. "I'm pretty sure Cranston wants us to be able to test out of college math, with the equations he gives us."

Tobias started to help her with math, which always went quicker. English took a bit more time for Maria to explain due to the concepts not being as straight forward as the order of operations. So far, their alliance had allowed them to pass their toughest classes with at least a C-average.

And if it also got them away from their drunk parents for a few hours, well, that was just a bonus.

They were halfway through English homework when they heard laughter echo through the site. Two flashlight beams preceded a lantern held by the last person Maria expected.

"Is that the quarterback and head cheerleader?" Tobias asked, a little confused.

Maria nodded, just as confused. They didn't seem the type to wander through abandoned construction sites.

"I told you there are no ghosts," James said, setting the lantern on a slab of concrete.

Lucy drank from a water bottle before passing it over. "There are ghosts everywhere. It's just a matter of if they wanna talk to us or not."

"They're ghost hunting?" Maria asked incredulously. "Those two?"

Tobias rolled his eyes. "Says the ice queen who just so happens to be helping the quietest kid in class."

"You use your brain, unlike the rest of our classmates."

Something in the sky flared for a moment, making them all look up.

"That doesn't look like a shooting star," Tobias murmured.

Maria shoved her homework into her bag. "It's not. Move!"

He zipped up his binder and leaped off the ledge with her. Maria huffed when she saw the two idiots across the way, still staring.

"Get out of the way of the falling object, dumb asses!"

That shook them, and they quickly dived behind a wall. Maria peered around the corner of the building she and Tobias were in as the actual for realsies space ship skid to a halt in the empty space of the site. It was small, could maybe fit half a dozen people, and looked like it had seen some shit.

"Let's check it out," Tobias said.

"Are you crazy?!" Maria hissed.

His grin was a little manic. "Fifty years from now, do you wanna say you had the courage to check out the space ship?"

She glared at him, but when she saw the flicker of flashlights emerging from across the way, decided someone with a brain needed to be watching over the insanity. "Don't touch anything."

"Promise."

Taking a deep breath, Maria stepped out from behind the wall and led Tobias over to James and Lucy. She really, really hoped they all didn't get vaporized by a space gun.

* * *

Natalia brought the stolen motorcycle to a halt when a flash in the sky became a streak of light that only grew brighter. She zoomed towards it and the abandoned construction site ahead. The ground shook with the crash landing, but she kept the bike steady as she weaved through old fencing and debris.

This wasn't within mission parameters, but a space ship was definitely something of use for the Red Room.

She caught sight of four teenagers slowly approaching the ship as well. They were inconsequential. She could quickly dispatch them if they tried to lay claim to the ship. She parked alongside the spacecraft and pulled out the cell phone.

No signal. No matter. Her handler was tracking her and would investigate soon enough.

She left the helmet on the bike and headed for the apparent door. The four teenagers were panicked but didn't stop her. She didn't get a chance to look for a way of opening the hatch before it hissed open.

The man that tumbled out was blue, wore robes that spoke of high rank, and had raised swirls and lines on the visible parts of his skin. The two boys rushed forward to help him sit up. Natalia looked into the ship and knew she wouldn't have a lot of time to figure out how to pilot the thing before proper authorities arrived. When she moved to enter, however, the man spoke.

"No one can enter the ship without a power coin."

"Whoa, English speaking alien," the shorter of the two girls said.

"Lucy!" hissed the taller boy.

"James!" she hissed back.

"The Morphing Grid allows me to be understood," the man said. "Come, there is not much time."

"Time before what?" the taller girl asked, far more cautious than the other three.

"Lord Zeddakaros plans to attack this planet and take it's Zeo Crystal for himself. You must stop him."

"Whoa, man," James said, "I can barely stop myself from doing stupid shit, and you want me to stop someone who can attack a whole planet?"

The man coughed, and bright yellow something splattered the dirt in front of him. He held out his hand. Five glass circles of different colors lay in this palm. "My team has failed to protect this planet. If you are here, it is because the Zeo Crystal knew you would be worthy."

The smaller boy stepped forward, determination in his eyes. The taller girl grabbed his shoulder. He didn't look back as he said, "Fifty years from now-"

"I want to be alive, Tobias, not dead in someone else's war."

"This war is your war," the man said, "for it is a war for all life on your planet."

Tobias looked back at her, and whatever look he gave, it made her relent. He picked up the blue coin. It flashed for a moment, and he shivered. "Whoa." He grinned and looked back at his friend. "See? Perfectly safe, Maria."

Lucy stepped up and took the pink coin. James carefully picked up the red coin. The vaguely more sensible one of the bunch sighed before carefully choosing the black coin.

They all looked at Natalia. She raised an eyebrow, unimpressed with their expectations. There was no way she was meant to be here except to claim this ship for the Red Room.

The man turned a little, looking at her from the side of his eye. "If you do not do this, whatever purpose you serve will be null and void."

She narrowed her eyes at him. Telepathy wasn't out of the question. If telepathy, then mind control.

"All you want is the ship, right?" Maria asked. "Well, if you can't get into it without the coin, take the coin, get the ship."

Natalia turned away from them and moved her hand forward. Something hummed in the doorway, and when she was about to cross the threshold, her palm pressed against a force field. Growling, she whirled around and grabbed the yellow coin.

Warmth flooded her system. Something in her head clicked. She looked at the yellow coin, then at the ship. She stepped forward-

And grinned when she stepped onto the metal floor.

"I'm guessing that flash of light isn't a friend?" Tobias asked, fear in his voice.

"It's Zeddakaros," the man said. "Get out of here! Now!"

"You said we had to stop him!" Lucy reminded.

"You are not ready for this fight. He has consumed the lives of my teammates. You must wait for him to weaken. Now go!"

Natalia rolled her eyes as they ran onto the ship. Whatever. She took the pilot's seat and had a brief flash of vertigo. The controls made sense. They weren't in any kind of Earth language, but she understood them.

What the fuck.

Dust kicked up as the other ship came in for a landing.

"Come with us!" James insisted, trying to help the man up.

"I no longer have a power coin to allow me access to the ship."

Natalia turned her head to watch the boy debate giving up the coin.

"James!"

He looked at Lucy.

"Go." The alien said. "My fight is over. This is your planet to protect."

James nodded and stepped inside. Natalia snapped the hatch shut. The engines slowly came to life as a red man framed in metal and holding a staff came to stand in front of the ship. The sharp point of the staff started to crackle with red and black energy.

"Sheilds," Maria said as she took a seat next to Natalia. "We need shields."

"There are no shields," Natalia said, reading the information on the screen. "The previous battle and entry into the atmosphere destroyed the shield array."

Natalia launched them into the air and hit the button for the cloak. She turned the ship to fire on Zeddakaros, but her hand froze as shock swept through her.

The crackling energy from the staff wrapped around the blue alien. His mouth was open in a scream they couldn't hear. Bit by bit, he was pulled apart by the red and black lighting. The silver mask on Zeddakaros slid open at the bottom to reveal a mouth with too many teeth.

The blue and yellow-tinged stream of energy was swept into his mouth without pause.

"I'm gonna be sick," Tobias murmured.

Natalia's co-pilot reached behind her to hold his hand.

"Fly us out of here!" James said as Zeddakaros looked straight up at them.

Natalia hit the thrusters and sped away from the scene.

**Author's Note:**

> If you recognize the names from the other fandom I write in, good for you, don't tell anyone XD  
> The beginning of this is so very much taken from Animorphs.  
> The alien was the Power Rangers '17 version of Zordon.


End file.
